Abstract

In this conversation, Michael A. Peters analyses the advent of knowl- edge cultures and their relationships to human learning. The first part of the conver- sation analyses social transformation towards the network society and links digital technologies to the making of the society of control. It analyses the dynamics between openness, capitalism, and anti-capitalism, and uses various recent examples to link that dynamics to democracy. The second part of the conversation links cybernetic capitalism to learning and knowledge production, and elaborates the movement of open education. Based on work of Paulo Freire, it develops the notion of openness as an (educational) virtue. It links openness and creativity, introduces Michael Peters’ political economy of academic publishing, analyzes the importance of editing for learning and knowledge production, and briefly introduces the concept of knowledge cultures. The third part of the conversation shows practical applications of these theoretical insights using the examples of two academic journals edited by Michael Peters: Knowledge Cultures (Addleton), and The Video Journal of Education and Pedagogy (Springer). It explores epistemic consequences of peer-to-peer and wisdom- of-the-group approaches, introduces the notions of collective intelligence and col- (labor)ation, and outlines the main features of the new collective imagination. Finally, it shows that doing science is a privilege and a responsibility, and points towards transformation of academic labor from perpetuation of capitalism towards subversion.